A: NAME

The organization shall be known and addressed as EDO UNION, NETHERLANDS.

B: MOTTO

The motto of this Organization shall be “UNITED WE STAND”.

C: SLOGAN/LOGO ‘’EDOLITES OF HEARTBEAT STATE’’

D: The general meeting shall hold once a month at every 3rd Saturday & duration shall be between 17:00-20:00 (3hrs).

E: The general meeting shall hold between February & November within 12 calendar Months. 

F:  The Edo Union meetings shall be conducted in English Language & Pidgin.

This organization shall remain as a NON- POLITICAL, NON-RELIGIOUS & NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION and register at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce.

This organization is a legal entity; she shall have the right to sue and to be sued.

The following are the aims and objectives of the organization.

1. To bring together all EDO STATE INDIGENES in Diaspora.
2. To foster love, unity and progress amongst members.
3. To promote the cultural values of the EDOS
4. To represent the interest of all EDOS living in the Netherlands.
5. To educate members on lawful pursuits and discourage evils.
6. To educate and create awareness amongst members on social, political, economic and cultural advancement of their host country.
7. To educate members on the relevance of integration into their host country.
8. To organize an annual summer cultural show, where the rich Edo culture will be showcased to the world.
9. To embark on charitable ventures/causes here in the Netherlands and also in Edo State,

Nigeria, Africa or wherever the need might arise.

A:  MEMBERSHIP

a. Membership shall be opened to all Edo state indigenes living in the Netherlands.

b. One is qualified to become a member either one of Parents is from Edo state, by Birth, Marriage or not less than 10 years of residence.

c. Every Edo person have rights to membership irrespective of his/her social, religion, political affiliations or sexual orientation.

d. A minimum age for an applicant shall be 18 years.

e. Registration form must be collected and duly completed with a fee of €20.

f. Newly admitted member(s) must be placed on 6months probation. During the probation period, he/she must attend the monthly meetings. He/she shall be considered as a registered member after the end of the probation period.

B: TYPE OF MEMBERSHIP:

There shall be only one type of membership known as REGULAR: This means that a member must be financially, morally active, attends Union’s general meetings and social functions/outings (if any) regularly.

C:  DISMISSAL/TERMINATIONOF MEMBERSHIP

The Union reserves the right to determine the continued membership of any member. Any of the following may lead to suspension, dismissal/termination of membership;

a. Continued absenteeism for 3 consecutive meetings without any cogent reason(s) within one year.

b. If convicted for criminal offences in the Law Court.

c. Not able to meet up with the Union financial obligations.

• If a member fails to pay his/her monthly dues for a period of six months in a given calendar year effective from the date of registration.
• If a member also fails to pay his/her pledges, levies and fines for a period of one calendar year effective from when the pledges were made, levies and fines were imposed

d. Fighting and disorderly behavior.

e. Verbal insults, making disparaging and unpleasant remarks about anyone

f.​ To carry rumours, innuendos and to bear false witness.

g.​ To be a habitual late comer to meetings and functions without a cogent reason

h.​ To be find culpable in activities or functions that will likely bring the name of the Union into disrepute or to use the name of the Union in any social function, business, personal issue without official approval of the general house or EXCO.

D:  CONFLICT RESSOLUTION

One of the cardinal objectives of setting up E.U-NL is to ensure that we live together in peace & harmony with one another.

Disputes or Disagreements between members should not be brought to disrupt the smooth running of the organization but if any crisis, disagreements, quarrels,

Fights should arise; any or all of the parties involved must report the matter officially to the President or any other Exco member(s) of EDO UNION-NL.

Upon such report(s), the following measures might be taken into considerations:

1. An AD-HOC committee of minimum of 3 and maximum of 5–Man will be constituted to investigate, resolve and make necessary recommendations where applicable.
2. Upon such a report the President can as well inform the Secretary to summon a special extra-ordinary emergency meeting of all Exco members at an appropriate and convenient place.
3. The parties involved will be summoned to appear before the EXCO to state their case with clarity (evidences/witnesses) without the use of insults or negative words.
4. The guilty person will be sanctioned with a fine, suspension from meetings, an apology to the person he/she wronged depending on the serious nature of the offence. However, failure to adhere to any of these, could lead to his/her membership terminated.
5. Any member of E.U-NL who is summoned to appear and fails to do so without any cogent and verifiable reasons will be subject to a fine and possible expulsion from the Union.
6. Any infraction, case, disagreements, quarrels which was not formally reported to the General House or EXCO for deliberation should NEVER be discussed or used as reference point in any official deliberations.

FINANCE:

FINANCE:

The club shall derive her finances from fees, dues, fines, donations and investments.

DUES

a. Members shall pay the sum of €10 monthly as meeting dues for 12 calendar months.

FINES

a. ABSENTEEISM shall attract a fine of €10. This implies to member(s) who does not attend meeting without any cogent reason(s) is liable to a fine. Upon due notification, the following are classified as cogent reasons, working, sick or travel (out of the country). However, the aforementioned reason(s) must be supported with evidence(s).

b. LATE-COMING shall attract a fee of €5. However, members are entitled to 3 late coming excuses per year thereafter all other excuses as per late-coming are nullified.

c. Noise making/side talks /irregular movements shall attract a fine of €5.

d. Quarreling, insults, false rumours or use of abusive words attracts a fine of €50

e. Fighting shall attract fine of €200.

f. Irregular movements during meeting €5

g. Answering of phones calls will be not permitted except the UNION PHONE in case of EMERGENCY. In this regard, members are advised to give the UNION PHONE NUMBER to their loved ones (husbands/wives/children) and any default member(s) shall be liable to a fine of €5.

h. Smoking/eating / drinking is not allowed except WATER & failure to adhere shall attract a fine of €5

i. Any member who wishes to leave during deliberations must seek the consent of the Welfare officer(s), who will consult the President or whoever is presiding for an approval. Failure to adhere to this shall a fine of €20

j. Lateness to social functions or an official outing shall attract a fine €20 whilst failure to attend shall attract a fine €50 without cogent reasons respectively.

k. Decorum must be observed if any member wants to contribute to discussions during meetings. Hands must be raised and recognized by the moderator and non-adherence shall attract a fine of €10

A. ELECTION:

1. There shall be an electoral body whose sole responsibility is to conduct a free and fair election.
2. Election shall be by an OPEN ballot system.
3. Elected officers shall serve for a maximum tenure of 2 years unless if re-elected.
4. Any elected officer(s) shall be impeached or removed from office if there are substantial evidences of misconduct or power mismanagement.
5. Any member who has met the provision for election into any office, can seek re-election into that office for not more than two terms, thereafter he/she must not seek re-election into that same office again for another 5 years period of hiatus.

B. ELECTORAL COMMITTEE:

a. An electoral body of three members will be appointed three months before the general election and this body shall set out guidelines for this election as approved by the General House or Executive Committee {EXCO}.

b. Potential candidates are to officially collect “elections forms” within 2 weeks and pay into the Union account a non-refundable fee, according to their respective posts {President €100, Vice President, Secretaries & others €50 }.

c. No Candidate(s) shall hand-pick his/her Assistant(s) or running mate(s).

d. The electoral body shall screen all the contestants and shall submit names qualified/screened candidates to this house two months before the conduct of election.

e. Any disqualified candidate(s) will be free to lodge in letter of protest with a fee {€50}, stating clearly his reasons for disagreeing with the electoral body, and the general house will take a final decision of the person’s eligibility or not. The general house decision will be final and non-contestable. If the issue must be voted on, it will be done by secret ballot system.

f. Qualified candidate{s} begins their campaign officially without any defamatory of opponent’s characters or use of illegal threats and shall enlightened the general house with regards to their “MANIFESTOES”.

g. Qualified candidate{s} must be willing and ready to address the general meeting a month prior to the conduct of the general election.

h. Candidate(s) with more VOTES will be declared as WINNER(S).

i. An unopposed candidate(s) must secure minimum of 50% votes of the electors/voters.

j. Winners must be willing and ready to take an OATHS OF OFFICE during the inaugural ceremony and this shall solely be done by the Electoral Officers.

C: ELIGIBILITY FOR VOTING:

For any member to vote for any candidate{s} in an election-

a. He/She must be a registered member of Edo Union-NL

b. He/she must been regular and financial member (65% attendance and 75% financial commitment) effective from the date of his/her registration of E.U-NL member.

D: QUALIFICATIONS FOR AN OFFICIAL:

Any person who wishes to seek for an elective post(s) must fulfill the under listed conditions:

1. He/she must be a bonafide member of EDO UNION NL.
2. An official must be legally documented in the Netherlands.
3. Minimum age for an official shall be 18 years and above.
4. An official must be a person of proven good characters.
5. He/ she must be financially up to date.
6. He/ She must be a committed & dedicated, punctual and above regular attendee.
7. He/She must have a minimum academic qualification of W.A.E.C result or its equivalent.
8. He/she must be fluent in English Language, which will be the language of conducting our meetings and in other official engagement/functions.
9. He/She must not have any criminal conviction in any law court or legally constituted tribunal and also, he/she must not be on a wanted list of any law enforcement body/agency anywhere in the world.
10. The posts of the President, Vice President and the General Secretary must represent the 3 Senatorial District from EDO STATE.

E: OFFICIALS

A: Elective Posts

1. President
2. Vice President
3. General Secretary
4. Assistant General Secretary
5. Financial Secretary
6. Assistant Financial Secretary
7. Treasurer
8. Public Relation Officer
9. Assistant Public Relation Officer
10. Welfare Secretary
11. Assistant Welfare Secretary
12. Chief Whip
13. Assistant Chief Whip
14. Social/Organizing Secretary
15. Assistant Social /Organizing Secretary

B: Non- Elective Post

1. Auditors​
2. Board of Trustee
3. Zonal leaders/Co-coordinators
4. Welfare Committee

ELECTIVE POSTS /JOB DESCRIPTIONS

 1. PRESIDENT

• President shall be the Executive head of the Union
• He/ She shall preside over the Executive and General meetings and can summon emergency meeting in consultation with the General Secretary.
• He/ she reserve the sole right to VETO all conflicting matters.
• He /She shall be signatory to the Union’s bank account.
• He/ She shall approve/sign all payment related activities.

2. VICE PRESIDENT

• He/She shall perform and exercise all Presidential rights in the absence of the President.

3. GENERAL SECRETARY

• He/ She shall record the minutes of meetings and circulars.
• He/She shall receive and reply all correspondence
• He/She shall keep the register of all members in addition to other vital documents of the Union.
• He/She shall prepare agenda in consultation with the President and handover to the presiding officer
• He/She shall act in the capacity of the Presidents in the absence of the Latter.
• He/she shall be responsible for taking member’s attendance during Executives and General meetings.

4. ASSISTANT GEN. SECRETARY

• He/She shall deputize for the General Secretary

5. FINANCIAL SECRETARY

• He/She shall collect and keep record of all finances.
• He/She shall hand over all monies collected to the treasurer within 24hours after collection
• He/She shall surrender all financial records for auditing as the need arises.
• Preparation and presentation of both monthly and an annual statement of financial update of all members.
• He/She shall be signatory to the Union’s bank account.
• He/ She shall submit/update the general house quarterly as regards to the financial status of the Union and her members.
• He/ She shall be co-signatory to all payment related activities.

6. ASSISTANT FINANCIAL SECRETARY

• He/She shall deputize for the Financial Secretary.

7. TREASURER

• He/She shall keep records of all income and expenditure
• He/She shall deposit all monies collected into the Union’s Bank account within 48 hours.
• He/She shall keep receipts of any financial transactions.
• He/She shall submit both monthly and annual statement of account to the general house.
• He /She shall be signatory to the Union’s bank account.
• He/ She shall be co-signatory to all payment related activities.

8. PUBLIC RELATION OFFICER

• He/She shall publicize all the activities of the Union in accordance with the directives of the General House.
• He/She shall be the principal channel through which publications in the social /mass media shall be sent to the public.
• He/she shall liaise with OTHER PRO of different Union/Association/Organization on public relations of Edo Union
• He/she shall responsible for the maintenance and update of information on the organization’s website
• He/she shall carry out other tasks as assign by the Executives or General House

9. ASSISTANT PUBLIC RELATION OFFICER

• He/ She shall deputize for the Public Relation Officer.

10. WELFARE SECRETARY

• Acquaint the house with the personal state of members.
• Arrange visits to members who may be sick, bereaved, detained, or newly married, as well as members who have suffered loss of property, whose wives have been newly delivered of babies, etc.
• He/she shall be informed of or by any member in distress either financial or otherwise.
• And shall attend to all likewise matter and refer to the welfare committee for action where deemed necessary.

11. ASSISTANT WELFARE SECRETARY

• He/ She shall deputize for the Welfare Secretary

12. CHIEF WHIP

• He shall maintain law and order during deliberations.
• He shall collect fines from any offending member as stipulated by the Law.
• He shall reconcile his activities in respect of fine collection with the financial secretary within the meeting hours of such collection.
• He will keep a record of the code of conduct of members.
• He shall report any case of perpetual indiscipline in respect of any member to the EXECUTIVE or General assembly as may be deemed fit.
• He shall handle/coordinate logistics for all meetings (e.g., arrangement of venue, distribution of refreshments, etc.) and shall work in collaboration with the Social/Organizing Secretary in ceremonious events.

13, ASSISTANT CHIEF WHIP

• He/ She shall deputize for the Chief Whip

14. SOCIAL/ORGANISING SECRETARY

• Draw up/ propose yearly social projects and hand it over to the executives.
• Initiate and organize social events including budgeting.
• Handle/coordinate logistics for all ceremonious events in collaboration with the CHIEF WHIP (e.g., arrangement of venue, distribution of refreshments, etc.).
• Take any other directives from the executives.

15. ASSISTANT SOCIAL/ORGANISING SECRETARY

• He/ She shall deputize for the Assistant Social/Organizing Secretary Chief Whip

NON-ELECTIVE POSTS /JOB DESCRIPTIONS

 1. AUDITORS: (Internal & External)

Internal

• The general house shall appoint 3-man audit team with professional accounting background.
• They shall audit all financial books of the Union twice a year.
• They shall submit reports including findings and recommendations within a stipulated audit period of not more than 4 weeks.
• Their appointment shall terminate on the submission/acceptance of their reports.

External

• The Union shall hire a professional non-member(s) to audit the account annually as agreed by the general house.

2. BOARD OF TRUSTEE

The board of trustee shall advise and guide the incumbent President and Executives on how to keep the mission and goals of the Union, resolve conflicts etc.

MEMBERSHIP: Board of trustee shall consist minimum of 5 and maximum of 7 members. These memberships would be made up of mostly past Presidents, EXCO’s and well meaningful members whose characters are worthy of emulations. This means that they must not have been involved in any criminal activities, embezzlement, impeached etc.

ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES:  Members Board of Trustee shall perform amongst others the following,

• The incumbent president nominates and recommends members of Board of Trustee to Executives for onward approval.
• The incumbent president shall recommend for the dismissal or removal of any member from the Board of Trustee if there should be MISCONDUCT (behavioral, criminal activities, human rights violations, Partisanism etc). However, this is subject to the approval of the Executives and the General House.
• The oldest (NOT BY AGE) past President would automatically become the CHAIRMAN and he/she shall serve 2-term of 3 years each making a total of 6years unless retired.
• Is there be a deadlock or an inconclusive election, the chairman board of trustee co-ordinate the general meeting for a period of 3 months and within this, he/she must make sure that fresh election is conducted.
• The board of trustee shall be independent and non-partisan.
• The incumbent president shall invite members, Board of Trustee if need be, to the Executives/General Meetings.
• The incumbent president must brief /hold meetings with members, board of trustee at least 3 times in a year. And such briefing should include the progress, challenges etc.
• The chairman, Board of Trustee shall perform the oath offices for the incoming Presidents while the President swears in the rest members of the Executive.

3. ZONAL LEADERS/CO-ORDINATORS

• They shall be nominated by the President and their nominations shall be subject to the house approval.
• They shall be assigned for special duties by the President or General House
• Their tenures end concurrently with the incumbent president

4. WELFARE COMMITTEE: This committee shall be made up of Elected & Non-Elected officers. For compositions, roles/responsibilities see ARTICLE 7

1: BENEFITS

a. Deceased Member: On death of a committed and financially up-to-date member, the Union will assist the family of the deceased with the sum of One Thousand euro (€1000) only and condolence visitation will be paid to the family. There will be free-will donations. It is advisable that members secure Death Assurance Policy from any Insurance company of their choice.

b1: Bereaved Member:  A bereaved member who has lost his father, mother, wife/ husband or children will receive a condolence card, a visit and a sum of Two Hundred and Fifty euro (€250) only. There will be free-will donations. The bereaved must at least be a committed and financially up to date for MINIMUM OF ONE & HALF YEAR.

 b2: Bereaved Member (Spouse/Child):  A bereaved member who has lost his/her wife/ husband committed/non-committed who has not met the condition stated in Art 6, subsection 2: 1 would be granted an exception at the discretion of the Executive body/general house. The Executives would therefore make recommendations subject to the approval of the general house.

c. Marriages: If invited, the member will receive a congratulatory card and a GIFT-CARD worth of One Hundred Euro (€100) only. There will be a free –will donations.

d. Childbirth/Baby Dedication: Upon notification, the member will receive GIFT-CARD worth of 50 Euro & Visit and it is only applicable to 2 children and thereafter, visitation only.

e. Birthday/Wedding Anniversary: If invited, members shall attend and offer moral support but during ceremoniously Wedding Anniversary, members who have not received their Marriage entitlements as stated in C will receive theirs.

f. Member who is ill, imprisoned or hospitalized shall be visited. Financial assistance will be determined by the degree of his/her physical or mental incapacity as recommended by the WELFARE COMMITTEE.

g. INVITATIONS: Invitation(s) shall be given to the Union at least 30 days in advance.

2: ELEGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS

Only members that have shown both moral & financial commitment for a MINIMUM of ONE YEAR after their respective probation period of 6 months totaled ONE YEAR and SIX MONTHS, and also fulfil the eligibility criteria would be entitled to the above benefits, at any point in time EXCEPT A & D.

1. Members must satisfy 75% financial commitment and 65% attendance. The beneficiary must satisfy this condition as stated in Art 6, subsection 2: 1 prior to the incident/event (Death of the Parents).
2. Beneficiary must provide minimum of 2 guarantors from this union (EU-NL) if not legally documented here in the Netherlands.
3. Guarantors must provide a copy of Netherlands valid document(s) and voluntarily append his/her signature on a contractual documents or undertakings that will be provided by the respectable UNION.
4. In case the Beneficiary defaults, the union reserve the right to pursue or take legal actions against the Guarantor(s).
5. Beneficiary with Netherlands documents that are qualified to receive their entitlements must in addition provide this union with a valid copy of his/her identity (not Driver’s License)
6. Also the said Guarantor(s) must be 100% cleared from all form of indebtedness and his character must be worthy of emulation.
7. Beneficiary whom received his/her entitlement must compulsorily remain a member for a minimum of 3 consecutive years. During this period, he/she must fulfil all moral & financial responsibilities to this union.
8. Beneficiary and Guarantor must be willing to sign any undertakings provided by this Union as regards to Article 6(Benefits).
9. Failure to satisfy the above pre-requites might automatically leads to 100% of reimbursement of whatever benefits received to the Union except A & B (Deceased member & Childbirth/Baby Dedication).
10. Incasso Bureau might be initiated, if beneficiary defaults and refuse to reimburse/settle benefits received amicably.

3: DISBURSEMENT OF BENEFITS

The beneficiary must formally notify the general house about the incident/event. Upon the notification and when duly cleared (i.e., satisfy all pre-requisites as it affects benefits), the required AMOUNT would be disbursed openly at the floor of the general house.

4: LOAN

This Union does not in any way lend money to her member(s) whether short/long term. However, the union shall assist or render financial assistance to distressed members in form of whip-round or individual bases.

WELFARE COMMITTEE

The Welfare committee shall consist of the following members.

• ​Vice Chairman
• ​Financial Secretary
• ​Welfare Secretary
• Chief Whip (2)
• ​2 non-Executive members

Functions:

1. This committee shall be head by the Vice President
2. They shall be responsible for the welfare of members.
3. They shall provide counselling to members (or ensure that counselling is provided to members), whenever necessary.
4. They shall arrange visits to members who may be sick, bereaved, detained, or newly married, as well as members who have suffered loss of property, whose wives have been newly delivered of babies, birthday, anniversary & celebration.
5. They shall mediate and resolves conflicts amongst members ​
6. They shall ensure the smooth running of all aspects of Welfare/Social Duties in conjunction with the PRO and shall be responsible for the arrangement of any ceremony involving members of the UNION.

DISSOLUTION

The Executives body of EU-NL shall be dissolved 30 days prior to the end of the 2 years tenure. During the course of dissolution, an interim body will be set up to run the affair of the Union until new executives are elected and sworn in.  All officers must declare and return all Union assets within 21 days prior to the election and also update the general house about their past activities for the last 23 months while in office.

IMPEACHMENT

1. An elected officer(s) that fail to discharge their duties effectively may be impeached by members of the EU-NL by simple majority of the UNION.
2. Embezzlement or misappropriation of the UNION funds will attract punitive action and complete refund shall be demanded.
3. Legal action shall apply when necessary & law enforcement will be involved.
4. Any criminal conviction or indictment at any law court or legally constituted tribunal or found wanting by any law enforcement body/agency anywhere in the world unless proven otherwise.
5. An elected official may be removed for misconduct or abusive of power if any 3 active members of the EU-NL jointly submit written allegations against the officer.
6. The executives /Union/Committee shall inform the accused official about the allegations and also the official will be given 14 days to submit a defense to the constituted authority.
7. The Union shall constitute a committee of minimum of 3 and maximum of 5– man AD-HOC committee to investigate all allegations against the Accused official and formally present the findings, verdict and recommendation to the general house.
8. Based on their report, a simple majority vote will be required to ratify the verdicts and recommendations as the case may be.

VALIDITY OF DECISION: Every decision made by members during meetings, is for and in the collective interest of the EU-NL, and is therefore binding on all members.

AMENDMENT & DATE:

This constitution shall be partly or fully amended from time to time as the situation warrants as agreed by the simple majority of the general house. Any proposed alteration(s) should be properly discussed/ deliberated before such alterations.

DECLARATION:

This Constitution is a body of fundamental rules, custom, convention and principles to which every sworn member of EDO UNION, THE NETHERLANDS have agreed to be governed and are therefore bound to uphold the tenets and principles herein.

I hereby declare that I comprehend the content herein and that am willing and ready to abide with EU-NL statutes utmost good faith. In consent and good faith, I append my signature.

Signature of Member:

Signature of the General Secretary:

Signature of the President:

COPYRIGHT (c) 2015 EDO UNION NL (EU-NL) AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS.